In a New York state of mind

Commentary

On Tuesday, Election Day, CNN had big screens in Times Square, and I joined the folks watching the returns. We cheered a lot, especially when CNN turned cameras on us.

On Wednesday, a nor'easter struck NYC. I can't say I was ever in one before and don't care to be again. The snow was wet and sloppy, and there was slush everywhere.

Homies and tourists alike were talking about Superstorm Sandyand the nor'easter. I was sitting next to Southern Californians in the Guggenheim Museum restaurant when we spotted the snow. We all had a laugh about being from sunny places. They were going to walk almost 20 blocks to the Frick Museum; I took a cab back to my hotel.

Frank Lloyd Wright's ever-fascinating Guggenheim has a wonderful exhibit, "Picasso Black and White," featuring studies for the artist's famous "Guernica" among dozens of other works. But the main thrill at the museum is the galleries winding upward along the walls of the cylindrical structure. I'd say the Guggenheim is iconic, but I loathe the word. (My potato-leek soup was good, too.)

I saw three Broadway shows: "The Heiress," "Grace" and "Peter and the Starcatcher." "Grace" is a dark comedy by Craig Wright, starring Paul Rudd, Michael Shannon, Ed Asner and Kate Arrington; it's about faith, guns and pesticides, all of which speak to our troubled times. "The Heiress" is a revival of Augustus & Ruth Goetz' 1947 play about a cold father (David Strathairn), a mousy daughter (Jessica Chastain) and a gold-digging suitor (Dan Stevens of "Downton Abbey"); I should mention the father's sister, played by Judith Ivey, but she seems to be in a different play. "Peter and the Starcatcher," based on one in a series of books by Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry, imagines how Peter Pan became the boy who'd never grow up; it's a delightful romp whose actors look like they're having a great time (meaning the audience does, too).

The Swedes wanted to visit the Empire State Building, and who should we see at the top but Charles Boyer, Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Warren Beatty and Annette Bening. Just kidding. I hadn't been up to King Kong territory in years, so it was great seeing new landmarks, including the shimmery One World Trade Center (Freedom Tower) downtown at the 9-11 site. The 104-story structure is to be completed next year and will be one of four buildings at the site. The 9-11 memorial was closed the day we visited, but the visitors center is informative and extremely moving as is an exhibit at nearby St. Paul's Chapel, built in 1764 and the oldest surviving church in Manhattan (George Washington's pew is among the displays).

(Pet peeve: People always say the building name with the wrong syllable stressed — it's EM-pire State Building, not Empire STATE Building.)

The Swedes and I had breakfast every a.m. at either Pigalle or Junior's, both near our hotel, the Edison. I've never had a bad breakfast in New York

Gee, I must have talked to 20 strangers during my NYC visit, fascinating because they're from all over the country and the world — a young man from New Zealand who had come to the U.S. to run in the New York Marathon (oops); a couple from Cambridge, England, who were off to see "Warhorse"; a well-informed cabby from Mali, West Africa, who wondered if I'd voted; a woman who had been without electricity for several days but was thankful her house hadn't been damaged by the hurricane.

Besides all that, I got to have lunch with my lovely friend Moira in the Time-Life Building cafeteria. Moira works for People magazine.

Navel gazing

•When my Swedish relatives were in Orlando, I went with them to Universal because I'd never seen Harry Potter world even though it opened more than two years ago. I haven't read the books and didn't care for the two movies I saw, but the attraction is super — well, except for the teeth-hurting sweetness of butterbeer.

•Meanwhile on "The Amazing Race," the Chippendale boys have grown on me. They're goofy fun.

•Now that the busy election season is over, maybe CNN's Candy Crowleywill have time to do something with her hair. Maybe Diane Sawyer can have an operation to remove her goopiness. And maybe Jon Stewartcan find new shtick. Just saying.

•Gee, and I was getting so much email there for a while.

•Yes, Ed Stoppard, who plays Sir Hallam Howard on the new "Upstairs Downstairs," is the son of playwright Tom Stoppard. This season's "Masterpiece Theatre" installment of "UD" was cheesy in parts and sensationalistic in others — but still entertaining.